It’s All About the Two P’s In An Organization – People and Process

Do you know – “What built the Pyramid of Giza? Was it the People or was it the Process?” It is like asking amateur question to the kids who do they like the most, their mother or their father. The answers can turn out to be subjective to whom the question is being asked upon.

But let us dig a little deeper into my former question as to “What actually built the Pyramids, People or Process?”

If you think about it for a second and then look at the huge monument yourself, you would say that it is unarguably, it’s the People behind this huge wonder that brought it to actuality. I would totally agree with this as without the work and effort put on by the people who worked day and night for years, this would not have been possible.

However, if you look into the other aspect of the same question, you will soon begin to wonder, how did they build it? Without the idiosyncrasies of having an advanced machinery, without electricity, how would it be possible to build such a wonder? There must be some strong road map and a pragmatic approach to the building of such an extraordinary monument. So what are we actually referring to? Yes, it is the processes used behind the building of this pyramid. The Egyptians used the force of water from the Nile river to bring these huge limestone carved blocks to the building sites of the pyramids. They dug canals around the building site and even used the same force of water to lift the heavy blocks to various levels of this building. We could go into more detail as to “How exactly were the pyramids built?”, although, this certainly is not the motto behind this write-up.

“People and Process” are two sides of the same coin. Thus, when talking about an organization and its success we will always end up stating valuable terms that is – “People and Process”.

Some might argue that “It is the people who devise processes in any organization”, to which I say, “Yes, indeed there are people behind such awestruck process, but one must not forget that People are for innovation and processes are for productivity.”

Imagine the shop floor of an extreme performance machine like Ferrari. It takes some great engineering and outstanding skills to build a car like Ferrari. This being the reason why these companies end up having so many patents to protect their Intellectual property. Thus, hiring the right set of people is an important key in this process. This is the phase i.e. Innovation where people play a key role in devising something so prodigious and monumental.

In this whole scenario a ‘process’ plays a vital role during the production phase. We need to undertake and implement concrete processes to be followed at each stage of production of this iconic car. This ensures that each of this car delivers peak performance when demanded.

The necromancers of management have already well approved of the fact that at most times we need good people who can follow the processes judiciously to get everything delivered on time. Hence, a well-defined process can yield the best output from an average skilled personnel and outstanding performance from a well-skilled staff.

Good processes are not just a dire necessity for the employees to work efficiently but also an opportunity for the management to outperform. A good feedback mechanism helps the management reform various ways to improve the work culture and the environment of their organization. A well-defined feedback sessions help management to motivate their employees with an efficacious reward or recognition.

Who Wins finally?

This match will always end up being a tiebreaker. People would always want processes to be people friendly and processes require people to be process oriented.

Nevertheless, for any mid-sized organisation or a start up, it is first required to be people- friendly and then should gradually ascend towards being process-oriented. For an organizations that are already making a fortune, it is important for them to devise processes that brings as much homogeneousness as possible to maintain standards as well as to give equal growth opportunities to every section of their business.

To conclude, People and Processes are just two sides of the same coin and will always follow an order which will make each organisation lead its way to success and its people to challenge their limits.